


Nightmares and Fairytales

by Insufferable_KnowItAll



Category: Animaniacs
Genre: Animaniacs angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, It hurts me as much as it hurts you, I’d like to apologize in advance :), like really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-02-05
Packaged: 2021-03-14 18:01:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29050332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Insufferable_KnowItAll/pseuds/Insufferable_KnowItAll
Summary: The Warners were caught between a rock and a hard place, and in the end, it cost them everything. Sixty years later, the memories repeat like a broken record. Trauma runs deep, but love runs deeper.
Relationships: Dot Warner & Wakko Warner & Yakko Warner
Comments: 13
Kudos: 81





	1. Entrapment

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We’ll kick it off with Wakko.

_“You’re looking for your siblings, aren’t you, sweetheart?”_

_Wakko wiped his eyes with the back of his hand. He attempted to stem the flow of tears, but the pain of it all reopened the emotional wound.  
_ _  
Today had been one of the worst days of his (relatively short) life._

_The Warner siblings had been causing mayhem one moment, and the next, they were being chased by a strange man wielding a net._

_Wakko had to dive out of the way to avoid being caught. He hit the ground with a heavy thud and a pained grunt.  
_

_Yakko screamed his name._

_Wakko saw his older brother frantically advance towards him, but the guard dove between the two.  
_

_He brought his net down._

_Dot had to yank Yakko out of the way.  
_

_The sharp clang of metal colliding with concrete echoed around the desolate lot._

_Dot coaxed him along with hysterical cries of his name, but Yakko’s eyes lingered on Wakko. His_ _expression communicated his horror and guilt better than words ever could have, even with his vast vocabulary._

_The guard turned. He stared down at Wakko, poised to strike.  
_

_Wakko’s eyes widened. He rolled out of the way just as the net’s rim struck the ground where he laid seconds before. The sound made him nauseous._

_Wakko scrambled to his feet and ran, silently begging the man to follow_ him _._

_He wanted to create a diversion so the others could get away._

_They would be ok without him._

_Wakko skidded to a halt in an alleyway, desperately trying to catch his breath. His chest ached with each inhalation. He clutched at the fabric of his sweater, just over his heart.  
_

_The ache deepened when he realized that his siblings were gone.  
_

_When he considered the possibility that they had been captured, he began to weep._

No. 

He couldn’t think like that. 

_Wakko set out to find them._

_Instead, he found a lady who cooed at him like he was too dumb to understand a more sophisticated lexicon._

_Or rather, she had found him._

_He glanced up at the woman, who extended a hand. Something about her saccharine tone and the odd, stiff smile etched into her face made Wakko uneasy._

_“I can help you,” she coaxed, “I know where they are.”_

_Wakko wanted to tell her to go away, but right now finding his siblings was his priority. If she could lead him to them…_

_He placed a tentative hand in hers. The woman’s fingers wrapped around his hand delicately, like a spider’s web yielding to a fly. Wakko didn’t know that he was the fly._

_“They’re just up ahead,” she reassured him._

_The pair stopped at the foot of the Warner Brothers’ water tower. She fidgeted beside Wakko, but he hardly noticed. His eyes followed the structure to the peaked red roof. Why would they be here?_

_“Come on, now! You want to find them, don’t you?”_

_Wakko scrutinized the woman._

_Her auburn hair was pulled into a neat bun. A string of pearls hung just below the neckline of a prim black dress. The ensemble was overlaid with a maroon blazer. Her hands were behind her back, probably clasped professionally._

_Her unsettling smile wasn’t reflected in her eyes. When he looked into them, he felt as though he had plunged into a frozen lake._

_There was something else in them that Wakko couldn’t discern._

_“Something’s wrong,” he mumbled, mostly to himself._

_The woman smiled at him, “Everything will be alright, sweetheart.”_

_He noticed the syringe clutched in her fist too late. She plunged the needle into his upper arm before he had time to react. The sudden, intense pain made him yelp.  
_

_His last memory was of her arms surrounding him as he fell unconscious._

_“_ Wakko! _” Yakko cried._

_Wakko shielded his eyes from the harsh sunlight. He was laying on something rigid and cold and his brother’s hands were grasping his shoulders. Dot hid behind Yakko. Her face was contorted in sheer terror._

_“They told us something had happened to you… Something—Something terrible,” Yakko stammered, pulling his younger brother into a frenzied hug._

_“It’s a trap,” Wakko murmured, still drowsy from the sedative._

_A metallic screech drew their attention to the gaping entryway. The shield shaped door shrieked in protest against the force moving it._

_It was closing._

_The patch of sunshine illuminating the cavernous space diminished. Yakko leapt to his feet, leaving Dot to support their somnolent brother._

_Yakko raced to the door, the waning sunlight caressing his face._

_He was too late._

_The door closed with a deafening clang, shrouding the chasmal space in darkness_

_Yakko slammed his hands on the metal interior. His head and tail drooped simultaneously._

_“Yakko?” Dot mumbled._

_He looked back at them. Wakko’s chest began to ache again from the sorrow carved into his brother’s face._

_The eldest trudged back across the tower. It seemed like the journey across the expanse took hours. The space felt huge and impossibly empty._

_Yakko dropped to the floor in defeat. He drew his younger siblings into a tight embrace._

_The biting chill of the dark, vast space was overwhelming. Wakko buried his head into his brother’s chest.  
_

_Yakko was trembling, but Wakko didn’t think it was from the cold._

_“They left us here,” Wakko mumbled._

_“What did we do?” Dot asked in hushed despair._

_Tears snaked down her cheeks.  
_

_Wakko felt tears forming in his own eyes. The lump in his throat threatened to suffocate him._

_Yakko gently brushed Dot’s tears away with his thumb, fingers resting on the curve of her cheek.  
_

_For a moment, he looked just as overwhelmed by the hopeless terror that now devoured his siblings._

_Then, he smiled._

_It was a broken version of the smile he wore just hours before, jagged and deformed._

_It looked even more out of place than the smile of the—the—the_ cruel _woman who was responsible for locking them in. Wakko rubbed the spot on his arm where she had injected the sedative.  
_

_It still hurt._

_Yakko noticed._

_He threw an arm over Wakko’s shoulder. Wakko couldn’t help but notice how tense his older brother was despite his attempt at nonchalance._

_“It’ll be alright, sibs,” Yakko declared, trying to muster his usual confidence, “They wouldn’t leave us in here forever.”_

They wanted to, though. They would have. 

“Wakko, buddy, c’mon! Wake up!”

Wakko opened his eyes. Yakko and Dot hovered above him. Yakko’s hand was curled around Wakko’s shoulder.

“What’s wrong?” Wakko asked. 

“You tell us!” Yakko replied, “You were crying so hard we thought you’d flood the tower! What happened, sib?”

“I—I don’t want to talk about it,” Wakko replied hoarsely. 

The solemn frown upon his face didn’t suit him in the slightest. 

“That’s alright, Wak. We won’t leave your side until you feel better,” Dot declared, crawling into the space beside him. She wrapped her arms loosely around his waist and laid her head on his shoulder. 

Wakko pulled her closer. His frown softened significantly. 

Yakko ran a comforting hand down Wakko’s back. Wakko snuggled into his older brother’s chest. 

He certainly wasn’t his cheerful self, but he was significantly less distressed. 

They fell into a peaceful silence... Wakko couldn’t stand it after 10 minutes. 

“I had another nightmare about… that day.”

Dot shuddered. She had them, too. They all did. 

“Those are rough, huh?” Yakko asked. 

Wakko and Dot nodded earnestly. 

“You know what I do when I get them?” Yakko asked. 

“Cry into your pillow?” Dot joked. 

He smirked at her, “Yes, but _besides that_.”

“Talk yourself to sleep!” Wakko responded, grinning. His tongue protruded from the corner of his mouth. Nothing brought him joy like pestering his siblings. 

“It’s not like it’d be difficult. You talk us to sleep every day,” Dot added. 

“I didn’t realize it was ‘ridicule your older brother day,’” Yakko huffed. He was trying—and failing—to repress a grin. 

“It’s a daily practice, big brother,” Dot replied, “If we didn’t, your ego would grow out of control.”

“Thanks, sis. I feel the love. As I was _saying_ , I tell myself a story—the tale of—”

“So you _do_ talk yourself to sleep!” Dot cried. 

“Do you want the story or not?” Yakko asked sharply, crossing his arms. 

He and Dot stared each other down. Wakko knew if he didn’t say something soon, they’d start fighting.

“Yes, please,” Wakko interjected softly. 

They glanced back at Wakko. Both of their expressions softened. Wakko grinned at them. 

Dot may have been the cute one, but he was persuasive in his own way. 

The three of them settled back into Wakko’s bed.

The nightmare became irrelevant when Yakko spoke. 

He launched into the tale of a brave knight and a beautiful princess; however, this tale differed from the one he told Dot. This story entailed a love story that transcended royal status and defied the clutches of an evil mother. It ended with three rambunctious children. 

Dot asked Yakko to do different voices. He obliged on the condition that she stopped interrupting. She begrudgingly agreed. 

By the end, all three children were sufficiently tired.

The steady rhythm of Yakko’s heart was enough to put Wakko to sleep. 

Yakko ruffled his brother’s fur affectionately, “No matter what happens, Wak, it’ll be alright. We’ll always be right here to calm you down.”

Wakko reflected upon the last 60 years. 

Their lives weren’t perfect, but they had all been together through it all. It was close enough to perfect for Wakko. 

“Yeah,” Wakko smiled.

His gaze shifted between his siblings.

“You two are all I need.” 


	2. False Freedom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yakko’s turn!

_They weren’t going back in that tower if Yakko had anything to say about it—and, as usual, he had plenty to say._

_The door to their prison creaked open for the first time in who knows how long._

_A fresh-faced intern tripped over the threshold. He leapt to his feet, eyes wide in terror, as if the three of them would pounce on him the moment he showed weakness. The intern was encased from head to toe in pillows. He brandished a net in a trembling grasp._

_Yakko aimlessly flipped through the pages of the tome perched on his left knee. Dot was asleep on his right one. Wakko was slumped against his brother’s shoulder. He whined in his sleep._

_Yakko glanced over his shoulder at the source of the commotion, shielding his eyes from the searing light. They hadn’t seen the sun in almost two years._

_It was brighter than he remembered._

_He glared at the intern, who shifted uncomfortably beneath the eldest Warner’s icy gaze._

He was probably sent here because he’s disposable, _Yakko thought bitterly,_ Like us. 

_The thought elicits a laugh, but it lacked any sense of mirth. It was a cold, harsh sound that he didn’t think he was capable of producing._

_“Finally remembered us, huh?” Yakko asked flippantly._

_The intern gulped, “Mr. Plotz has a job for you.”_

_“Oh yeah? Well, we’re not interested.”_

_“It—It’s not your choice,” the intern squeaked._

_“It isn’t, huh? What are you going to do, you knock-off Michelin man? Catch us? Fat chance,” Yakko scoffed._

_“Please? It’s my first week and if I don’t get you three out there, Mr. Plotz will have my hide,” the intern begged._

_“Wellllll, since you asked nicely… No. Get out,” Yakko demanded._

_“I didn’t want to do this,” the intern sighed._

_He pulled a small bag out from the pile of pillows strapped to his waist._

_The moment he opened the bag, Wakko was awake and practically on top of him, tail wagging furiously. He hadn’t eaten in almost two years. The prospect of food was too much for him to resist._

_The intern chucked the bag behind him, over the railing. Wakko followed it._

_“Wakko, no!” Yakko cried._

_Dot jerked awake, whipping her head around in an effort to discern the threat. Yakko leapt off the couch, following his brother. Dot trailed after him._

_Wakko was tearing into whatever meat the bag had held. His tail whipped vigorously behind him._

_Yakko and Dot leapt over the railing. They landed beside Wakko, who smiled at them contentedly._

_He offered them the last shred of chicken, “Do you guys want some? It’s faboo!”_

_The other two declined._

_They glanced up when they heard a familiar click. The intern had shut the door._

_Well, good._

_They weren’t going back in, now, anyway._

_“Let’s ditch this guy. Maybe we can show our special friend Plotz how much we_ appreciate _what he’s done for us these last few years,” Yakko said with a devilish grin._

_His two younger siblings matched his smile. They took off._

_The intern raced down the ladder, net clutched between his teeth, but he was too slow. It was alright. They had been expecting this._

_A net came down on the three siblings as they turned the corner. It was wielded by the same guard that had caught them in ‘33. He grinned stupidly at them and waved._

_The next six hours were hell for everyone involved._

_The Warners were miserable, so they decided everyone else deserved to be, too. They didn’t ask to film some stupid cartoon for a different studio, so why should they take it seriously?  
_

_The director yelled himself hoarse at the trio after they deviated from the script for the… how many times had it been, now?_

_Let’s see… add 22… carry the one…_

_According to Yakko’s calculations, the 47th time._

_The Warners enjoyed every single disruption they caused. It meant they were getting their point across.  
_

_The scene was supposed to be a picnic on a sun-soaked hill of plush green grass and flowers. How cloyingly sweet could one studio be?_

_Disney. Go fig._

_“One last take,” the director hissed._

_One last take, eh?_

_They were going to give this director something he’d never forget._

_They played their roles_ perfectly. 

_The sickeningly saccharine scene was easy enough to play. Even Ralph could have managed to bumble through it._

_Dot poured each of them a cup of tea, spouting a nonsensical line about familial love, or friendship, or some other garbage. The boys clinked their teacups, replying with their own disgusting dialogue._

_Who_ writes _this stuff?_

 _You could_ almost _see the light returning to the director’s eyes._

_The Warners couldn’t have that!_

_They downed their tea in one gulp before tossing the cups over their shoulders. The tinkling of broken China broke the serene silence._

_Wakko whipped open the picnic basket and removed a plate of green jello, which he smashed in Yakko’s face. Yakko got him back with a bowl of potato salad._

_The three siblings pelted food at each other with reckless abandon. Dot threw an entire cake at Wakko, who licked his face clean in one fell swoop._

_When the director demanded they stop, the trio turned their attack on him. Wakko managed to throw a perfectly-timed apple into the director’s mouth._

_“If that pig gets any angrier, he’ll roast himself,” Yakko snarked to his siblings._

_The director yanked the apple out of his mouth and lobbed it to the floor._

_“That’s it!” He shrieked. A string of profanity followed as he stormed off. The siblings congratulated each other on a job well done._

_Wakko emptied the rest of the picnic basket into his hammerspace._

_They heard the director shout something into the phone, growing more agitated by the second._

_“NOW!” He screamed, slamming down the receiver._

_Ralph and the intern skidded onto the set, nets held aloft._

_Uh oh._

_“Uhhhhh, sibs, I’d say that’s our cue,” Yakko said, grabbing his siblings’ hands. The three of them flew in the opposite direction, pursued by Ralph and the intern._

_“You’ll never take us alive,” Yakko yelled back to the duo._

_“That can be arranged,” the intern yelled back._

_Oh_ shit. 

_“Let’s go, let’s go, let’s go!” Yakko cried, putting on an extra burst of speed._

_The other two were able to keep up well, at least until Dot tripped. Her hand slipped out of Yakko’s._

_He whipped around._

_The guard lifted his sister by her ears. She shrieked, causing the intern and guard to cover their ears, but Ralph didn’t release her. He stuffed her into his net._

Nobody _did that to Yakko’s baby sister._

_He felt as though he were in a dream as he raced forward. Without thinking, he sank his teeth into the arm that held the net. Ralph screamed in pain, dropping the net._

_Something stung Yakko’s arm._

_Oh, right._

_These people liked fighting dirty—it was probably the same sedative they had used on Wakko._

_He fell unconscious._

_When Yakko woke up, he cursed. His siblings were curled against his sides._

_They were crying._

_Yakko guessed that their tears stemmed from both despair and frustration._

_He could have cried himself._

_The cavernous space was cold and dark—_ _Yakko already missed the warm resplendence of the sun._

_He was right when he reassured Wakko that they wouldn’t leave them in there forever._

_No, they would be freed—if you could even call that freedom—when they were useful. The moment their profitability ran out, they were reincarcerated._

_The three of them were tied to the same fate as Sisyphus; eternally rolling a stone of blind hope that would ultimately crush them._

Yakko shot up, clutching at his chest, which felt as though it were caving in. His breath came in gasps, but it might not have come at all with all the good it was doing him. 

_They were doomed._

He was sure that they were going to be captured and locked in again the moment the execs got bored with them. The studio had done it before. What was stopping them from doing it again? 

He was. 

At least for now. 

Their liberty hinged on his ability to make people laugh. How long could he keep it up? The moment his jokes were met with silence, they’d get the hook.

It was only a matter of time and he knew it. 

He shook with an unanticipated sob. He touched his cheek. Apparently he was crying. 

Who knew?

A gentle hand rested between Yakko’s shoulder blades. He nearly jumped out of his skin. 

“I’m sorry,” Dot murmured, “I heard you talking in your sleep… I wanted to make sure you’re ok.”

Yakko gave her a shaky smile, still struggling to force air into his lungs. 

Dot could tell.

She crawled into the ball pit, taking his hand in hers. 

“Breathe,” she ordered, taking a deep breath in and out. 

He copied her. 

The two of them continued until Yakko could breathe again. He wiped his face with the back of his hand. 

Wakko appeared seconds later, eyes wide with concern. 

Yakko gestured to the space beside him. Wakko leapt in, wrapping his arms around his older brother and squeezing so hard that Yakko couldn’t breathe. 

At least it was better than being unable to breathe from the alternative. 

“Well, big brother, you said that you talk yourself to sleep—” Dot began. 

“I said I tell myself a story,” Yakko interjected. 

“Don’t interrupt,” Dot replied, “So we’re going to talk _you_ to sleep for a change.”

“Which one would you like?” Wakko asked. 

“Hm, how about the one about the king of Anvilania? I’ve heard he’s quite the charmer,” Yakko replied with a smirk. 

“Conceited much?” Dot asked sardonically. 

“You’re one to talk,” Yakko joked. 

“See what I mean? Your ego’s so inflated, you’re lucky you don’t float away,” she said. 

“Anvilania?” Wakko asked. 

“Right. Once upon a time, there was a king whose head was so big that he’s lucky the crown fit,” Dot joked. 

Yakko blew a kiss, “Goodni—”

“Don’t. You. Dare,” she warned. 

Dot continued recounting the tale of King Yakko of Anvilania. Wakko occasionally interjected with little points she had missed. The story went unfinished, as both she and Wakko had fallen asleep. 

Yakko smiled, gaze flickering between the two. He quietly finished the story to himself, covering the two of them with a blanket he had buried in the ball pit for this exact situation. He pressed a kiss into each of their foreheads. 

“Goodnight, everybody,” he said, laying back down between the two. 

“Watch it,” Dot mumbled in her sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I’m sorry. 
> 
> We’ll wrap it up with Dot! Stay tuned!


	3. ‘Til Death Do Us Part

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We’ll finish it up with Dot!  
> This is one of the angstiest pieces I’ve written to date. I’d like to preface this with an apology.  
> This scene covers the Warners’ experience with being put into suspended animation.  
> T/W, death is alluded to, but it’s neither graphic nor final.

_Every muscle in Dot’s body begged her to stop. Her lungs stung with each gasping breath. She knew she wouldn’t be able to sustain it, but if she stopped, it was game over._

_Except this was no game._

_She and her brothers were running for their lives._

_Dot made the mistake of looking back._

_Their assailants were so much closer than she anticipated and getting closer by the second. They possessed an unsettling amount of grace for men their size._

_“Give up,” one of them commanded, “You can’t run forever.”_

_His voice was cold and disinterested, as if this was just another day for them._

_Come to think of it, it probably was._

_Why couldn’t Plotz have sent Ralph after them? They could evade Ralph._

_These men with their pristine suits and their strange contraptions were determined not to be thwarted._

_The Warners couldn’t run forever; they knew that.  
_

_They just had to hope they could make enough detours to temporarily avoid their foes._

_They just had to lose them long enough to make it home._

_Yakko yanked Dot and Wakko around a corner._

Checkmate.

_Their aggressors had anticipated the Warners’ attempt to escape. Three more men were waiting for them, contraptions pointed at the siblings._

_When Wakko reached for his mallet, their fingers flew to the trigger._

_Wakko jerked his hand away from his hammerspace._

_Yakko shoved his siblings behind him, but it was to no avail—they had the trio surrounded._

_“Come on, guys, we can work this out! We were locked in the tower for 60 years. Why not do that again? It bought you 60 years before, maybe it’ll get you more the second time around!” Yakko tried to negotiate. His voice was surprisingly steady, but the hand clutching Dot’s gave him away—he was shaking._

_“The executive board of Warner Brothers Entertainment has determined that extended incarceration is excessively cruel,” one of the assassins replied._

_“And_ killing us _isn’t?!” Yakko shouted._

_“It will be over quickly,” another replied dispassionately._

_“Please, just let us go. We won’t bother anyone. We’ll go home and we’ll stay there._ Please _,” Yakko begged. His calm façade had disappeared; desperation bled into his voice._

_“Sorry, kid,” said the one directly in front of them, raising his weapon._

_Yakko turned and pulled his siblings into a protective embrace. It was a futile attempt to shield them from whatever came next._

_Wakko sobbed into their brother’s chest. Silent tears trailed down Yakko’s cheeks._

_Dot’s brothers had spent almost 70 years trying to protect her. It was her turn to protect them._

_She silently vowed to never again let herself be relegated to damsel in distress._

_Dot didn’t cry. Instead, she smiled at the imposing men, using her extraordinary cuteness against them. It was one of the best weapons in her arsenal._

_“Pweeeeease?” Dot tried._

_“No.”_

_There were six synchronous clicks._

_Being shot with a dart gun wasn’t how Dot had pictured her death._

_She hadn’t really pictured it all, being that they were immortal.  
_

_She decided that if she had to die, being wrapped in her brothers’ arms was the best way to go._

_A tranquil darkness engulfed the youngest Warner._

_Dot hadn’t expected to wake up._

_Yakko was hovering above her, hands clutching her shoulders. Wakko sat beside him, brows knit in concern. His hand was gently wrapped around hers._

_“Dot! Are you ok?” Yakko asked, sobbing in relief._

_“I’m not sure. Didn’t we just… die?” Dot asked, sitting up slowly._

_“Sure seems like it,” Yakko replied._

_Wakko nodded in agreement._

_“In a way, yes. You did,” said a deep voice behind them._

_The three whipped around to look at the source._

_Angelina and William._

_But how? Wakko’s Wish was just a movie—a work of fiction._

_“This is suspended animation, where decommissioned toons get sent to rest,” Angelina smiled, “And, my dears, you deserve some peace.”_

_The Warners were orphans. They were created that way. How were these people—their figmental parents—here?_

_Of course, Yakko shared Dot’s suspicions._

_“You two were just a frame in the movie. You’re not our parents,” he stated bluntly._

_“No, we aren’t,” William confirmed, “But we would like to give you three an opportunity to be kids. You’ve taken on far more responsibility than any child should bear. We may not be your parents, but we’re very proud of you.”_

_“We will be happy to care for you as our own, should you allow us to,” Angelina added hopefully._

_“How did you end up here?” Yakko inquired._

_“William and I were created for a frame, as you said, and then, we were discarded. We were sent here,” Angelina stated._

_“Give us a few moments to talk this over, mmkay?” Yakko asked._

_William and Angelina nodded. They retreated slowly, hand in hand. Yakko turned to his siblings._

_“I don’t know, sibs, this all seems too… perfect,” he said._

_“We just_ died, _Yakko. I’m not sure about you, but that’s not what I’d call ‘perfect,’” Dot retorted._

_“Fair enough, but… do you think King Dadoo and Queen Mom are the real deal? Is this just some trick of our combined subconscious?”_

_“They seem real,” Wakko interjected._

_“So do we give them a chance?” Yakko asked._

_“Yeah,” Wakko replied with a serious nod._

_“I think so, too,” Dot agreed._

_“Alright then. Well, sibs, someone wants us. I know this is an unfamiliar feeling, but we have to play it cool, at least until they take us home,” Yakko declared._

_“Mum! Dadoo! Come back!” Wakko yelled, sprinting towards their parents._

_“He really took your advice to heart,” Dot joked._

_“Ah, what the heck. Let’s go meet our parents, sis!” Yakko cried, grabbing Dot’s hand and running after Wakko._

_Their parents knelt down, ready for the impact. The three kids would have bowled any normal person over, but William and Angelina were different. They were made for her and her brothers._

_The couple wrapped their arms around the children they never got to know._

_The trio, shunned and abhorred in life, melted into the first loving embrace of their lives—well… deaths._

_Dot couldn’t tell who was crying harder._

_“We love you,” Angelina stated, caressing Dot’s cheek._

_“With everything we are,” William added, sobbing and squeezing the kids tighter._

_Angelina smiled through the tears, “You’re finally safe.”_

Dot’s quiet sobs drowned out the soft mumbling in the bed beneath hers. 

She didn’t really know what happened after the dart took effect.  
  
All she really remembered was a brief, but peaceful, darkness. When they woke up, they were laying on the forest floor for Spielberg to find. 

Her mind had created a paradise complete with parents to cope with the fact that they had really been dead.

Angelina and William may have been figments of her imagination, but their murder was not. 

_How could they do this to us?_ Dot silently demanded. 

A reboot. 

The same studio that had them killed them wanted them to do a reboot. 

The very thought made them all sick, but they couldn’t refuse. They had no choice. 

So here they were, alive again.

The world was still cruel, even 22 years later.

She reflected upon all that had happened in the first season. 

Dot couldn’t stand it.

She crawled out of bed, climbed up the ladder, and tapped Wakko’s foot, which was resting on his pillow. He didn’t stir. She sighed and crawled to the end of the bed. 

Wakko’s chin rested on the mattress. His tongue lolled out and he occasionally growled or whimpered in his sleep.

One of his hands was wrapped around the edge of the blanket while the other was curled into a fist by his face. The foot that wasn’t resting in the pillow was dangling over the side of the bed. 

Dot didn’t understand how he could sleep in such odd positions. 

“Wakko,” she murmured, shaking his shoulder. 

His eyes fluttered open. When he saw her, he propped himself up on one elbow. 

“Had a nightmare?” He asked, yawning. 

She nodded. 

“Wanna talk about it?”

She shook her head. 

He lifted his blanket. Dot nestled beside him, wrapping her arms around his waist and crying into his chest. 

“It’s alright,” Wakko reassured her, petting her hair.

“Everything ok, sibs?” 

Yakko. 

Dot glanced over to the end of the bed, where he sat, legs resting on the ladder. She and Wakko moved to the end of the bed. 

Yakko wiped Dot’s tears and pressed a kiss into the top of her head.

He was the closest thing to a parent they had. 

“I—I dreamt about dying again. But this time, we didn’t wake up in the forest, we ended up somewhere—somewhere better. We had parents… They were the ones in that portrait from the movie. And they—they actually loved us,” Dot sobbed, burying her face in Wakko’s chest again. 

“There, there,” Wakko mumbled. 

“C’mon, sis, it’s ok. We may not have parents, but we have each other!” Yakko reassured her, running a comforting hand down her back, “You’re stuck with us! Wakko and I are going to be here for you until the very end. Promise.”

Yakko had taken on the parental role yet again. 

Dot felt even worse. 

“Stop it!” She cried, “You’re hurting yourself by trying to be our brother and our parent at the same time! We _know_ how hard it is on you, Yakko. We saw what happened with Nickelwise. You almost had your _soul_ sucked out! _We almost lost you!_ ”

Yakko balked at his sister’s proclamation.

“I—I…”

“Don’t defend it! We know you feel like you aren’t enough for us, Yakko. You can prattle off every country in your sleep, but you can’t see how much you matter to us—do you see how stupid that is? You are enough. _You are enough!_ Get it through your thick, egg-shaped skull because we care about you just as much as you care about us!”

Yakko was speechless. 

Dot knew she had struck a nerve, but he needed to hear it. He needed to know how much they cared. 

She dragged her oldest brother onto the bed and into a hug. He swallowed harshly, hugging her back. 

The pair pulled Wakko into their embrace. 

“You’ll always be enough for us,” Wakko agreed. 

“You guys are more than enough for me, too,” Yakko declared with a tearful smile. 

She and her brothers had lived and died (and lived again) together. 

She wasn’t lying—that was enough. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope your heart’s in shreds because mine certainly was when I wrote this ❤️  
> I’m so very sorry.

**Author's Note:**

> I’m sorry.


End file.
